Little Talks
by Conan15
Summary: Songfic of various moments in Finnick/Annie and Katniss/Peeta's relationships, based on the books. I do not own The Hunger Games by Susan Collins or "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! Hey! Hey!**

**I don't like walking around this old and empty house**

**So hold my hand, I'll walk with you, my dear**

"**Hey! Hey! Hey!**" The press called as Annie Cresta the most recent victor of the Hunger Games walked by on her way from her interview with Caesar to the train that would take her home to District Four. Seemingly ignoring them she continued walking beside her mentor, Capitol heartthrob and the victor of the 64th Hunger Games, Finnick Odair. She continued with her forward motion until one leapt in front of her startling her and earning a growl from her mentor as he knew how hurt she felt and how she couldn't deal with this guy and neither could he but he had to for her sake, to protect her even though it hurt.

"Are you really as mad as they say?" The reporter blurted out not caring that he had clearly startled the girl or that the question was extremely personal and unbelievably rude to ask anyone, but this was the Capitol, why should Finnick expect anything else? None of them here knew the first thing about treating other groups of people as being human and having feelings, just look at what they do with their Hunger Games competitions. Annie leapt back after the reporter had appeared and had seemingly not even heard the question but was even more startled just by his sudden appearance and the bright blue skin, shining orange tattoos and spiked black hair. Her sea green eyes blinked rapidly and her black curls shook as the rest of her did in fright. Finnick's similar sea green eyes took in her fear and stepped in front of her in an attempt to shield her from the reporter's view.

"She's not mad!" He exploded with a harsh rebuke in the form of yelling and putting his face right in front of the reporter's with his bronze curls bouncing every which way. Taking a deep breath the mentor forced himself to take a deep breath so that he would calm down and none of their families would be harmed in response to his outburst. Gritting his teeth he replied to the man's question with a much calmer voice and put on a big fake smile, the same one he wore to every capitol event, "She's not mad, sir, just in a state of shock I suppose. I too am a victor of the Hunger Games and it is very difficult to wrap one's head around whatever way you look at it from the 23 others dying around you to the shock of realizing you are the only one left. Well needless to say it is quite shocking, now if you will please excuse us we have a train to catch to District Four and from what Iris says we are running on a very tight time table." Pushing past the crowd, Finnick could imagine the look on Snow's face as the President saw that here was another person Finnick was determined to protect, another person Snow could use against him.

Pushing these terrifying tendrils of thought away, the young man pushed through the rest of the crowd to the train praying that Annie was following and nobody else made the mistake of messing with her. Stepping onto the train he turned around and offered a tan hand to the girl to help her on the train. As she took his out stretched hand he could feel her hand so small and shaky inside of his and then he knew that no matter what Snow would retaliate with he had to protect this girl no matter the cost. Letting go of her hand as the doors closed the boy started down the hall and wasn't too far along when the train lurched to a start before gaining speed as the girl whimpered at the original sound.

Turning around he walked back to where the girl lay curled up on the ground with both of her hands over her ears and her sea green eyes squeezed shut in fear as she tried to hold herself together through the undeniable onslaught of memories from the games. By the time he'd crouched down to her level he could see her mumbling unheard words and knew that the only thing he could do was hold her close and whisper calming words so that's what he did. He sat down beside her and helped her into a seated position before wrapping a warm arm around her and whispering over and over again, "It's okay, you're safe." He continued with this statement even though he knew it was a lie and neither of them would ever truly be safe despite false promises that this would be so. About twenty minutes later the girl had calmed down enough for him to take her by the hand and lead her to the dining area where Iris, their Capitol representative, and Mags, his mentor, were awaiting their company.

A few hours later, during which Finnick and Mags successfully managed to coax a little food down the girl's throat along with a little water to wash it down, the group arrived to the screaming of its citizens as they welcomed them home. Annie was so freaked out by all the noise that Finnick again was forced to step in front of her and protect her from the world. After saying a few words and getting Mags to speak in Annie's place, he led the girl to Victor's Village where her family awaited her unbeknownst of her condition.

"This is your new home Annie." Finnick grinned as he theatrically gestured to the big house jokingly while at the same time carefully watching her eyes glance around wide as those of a deer in headlights. Walking inside she spotted her parents who were startled by the change in their daughter despite Finnick's parent's warnings that no one ever enters the games and comes out the same. There was a sword on the wall left by its previous occupant who had died quietly of old age a few years prior and was viewed by the rest of Victor's Village as one of the lucky ones, not many made it to old age or got to pass away painlessly in their sleep. Catching sight of this sword, the girl screamed which scared the Crestas to the point that Mr. and Mrs. Odair had to drag them into the kitchen while Finnick's older brother Mako snatched the sword off the wall and followed his parents into the kitchen. Again leaning down to her level Finnick soother the girl with the same words he'd used on the train and was relieved when she relaxed and saw that the weapon was gone. She still turned to him for confirmation that she was safe now and he nodded before standing up and offering her a hand, "Would you like to see the rest of your new home? It's one of the only perks of being a victor."

"**I don't like walking around this old and empty house**." The girl told him in a whispered voice that was hoarse from lack of use as these were the first words the girl had spoken since leaving the arena. The sound of her voice comforted him because it revealed that there was still someone inside fighting to get out of that traumatized shell.

"**So hold my hand, I'll walk with you, my dear**." Finnick promised with that flirtatious ending coming naturally after having spent five years working on being someone he was not to protect those he loved. She nodded ignoring this and took his hand allowing him to lead her the whole way around without another episode. It was quite some time before he or anyone else heard her voice again but Finnick did not despair though many others did because that voice had reminded him that there was still a life inside that broken girl fighting to break free. Even then, though he was unawares, he was already beginning to fall for this broken girl.


	2. Chapter 2

**The stairs creak as I sleep, it's keeping me awake**

**It's the house telling you to close your eyes**

Nightmares had plagued her night after night since the games had ended months ago but they still haunted her sleep and made it impossible for her to ever truly relax. Whether it was the images of her killing the boy from District One, apparently discovering his name hadn't changed how she viewed him and he would never be Marvel just the boy from District One, to the other deaths in the arena from Cato with all his terrible attacks yet his painfully horrific death at the mouths of the mutts to little Rue who she hadn't been able to save like she had Prim. On other nights it was the brutal deaths of all those she loved from Prim, her mother, Peeta, Gale, Gale's family, Cinna, and even Haymitch some nights mostly all at the hands of President Snow as she was forced to look on or even worse at her own unwilling hands as the scent of roses and blood wafted by and Snow's laughter reverberated around her skull as she screamed. Very rarely but even now the death of her father would come to her and she'd wake up from her childhood nightmare shaking and sickened by her relief that it wasn't a dream connected to the Games in anyway. She was sickened by the person she'd become, the one that felt relieved at the images of the death of her father and knowing that she was so traumatized and that this was never going to go away. At the same time as she was suffering from these nightmares so was every victor before her including her partner and fellow victor of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Peeta. The only reprieve she and he both had managed to have in the months following the Games had been on the train when she was curled up in his arms and the two held each other close, two broken creatures made whole for just a moment by one another's presence. Could Peeta help her fend off those nightmares tonight?

She glanced up at the young man who had grown up since the eleven year old boy with the bread who had saved her many years before she ever could truly rationalize how much he could mean to her. Taking in every detail of his face as his warm arms held her tight seemed only reasonable if not rational as her Seam gray eyes looked up at his blue eyes focusing not on her face but the next step on the stairs as his blonde curls bounced up and down and his Capitol-manufactured leg clanked on each step. Upon reaching the top stair of her home Katniss Everdeen ignored the sleep syrup weighing her down and gripped tighter to the familiar fabric and smell of flour, wood smoke from the fire, and oil pants that left markings on his hands and clothing. Noticing her tightening fingers the young man looked down at her with his eyes brimming with questions. Mumbling the girl answered those questions but with her face still pressed into his shirt he heard none of it.

"What was that sweetheart?" He asked with a well meaning smile and a comical reminder of Haymitch's old nickname for her.

"Stay with me?" She asked pushing away the sleepy tendrils of thought that came from the sleep syrup and distracted her from her mission to get Peeta to stay with her tonight, to keep the nightmares at bay.

"Always." He promised as he placed her gently on the familiar bed and carefully tucked her in like she was just a small child again. Collapsing into the corner chair that had been brought in there by Prim when she wished to talk to Katniss immediately following the Games, the boy waited for her to fall asleep. After a good half hour of this waiting for the fluttering eyelids of the girl on fire to close in much needed sleep Peeta grinned at the girl and inquired with a chuckled, "Not sleepy yet, Katniss? Even with that sleep syrup?"

"No," She replied and then paused looking for an intelligent and believable excuse for the undeniable need she felt for his comfort that night as the menacing tendrils of doom began to flit throughout her subconscious like demons given free rein to terrorize and burn her in any way they could. Instead of just admitting to that fear and the nightmares and her need for the broken boy to come join her, the broken girl, so that they could for once feel whole, Katniss muttered a lame excuse, "**The stairs creak as I sleep, it's keeping me awake**. Will you come over here and hold me so that I don't have to think about it?" The boy chuckled and stretched out atop the covers beside her.

"There's no need to be bothered by that Katniss, **it's the house telling you to close your eyes**." He grinned as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and planted a light kiss on her forehead. A minute or two after he was beside her, Katniss was able to finally relax and soon her gray eyes closed as she drifted off and felt the boy beside her relax too. She was nearly asleep and was teetering on the edge of consciousness when she heard Peeta whisper in a sleep filled voice of his own, "Sweet dreams girl on fire."

The next morning she awoke to the absence of the boy with the bread and momentarily panicked until she rationalized that he had just awoken earlier than she and had gone home to go grab a change of clothes. Within another minute she had also realized that it was the first night since the train no phantoms of death had come to visit her and she'd had a blissfully dreamless sleep. It really was all thanks to Peeta then, the boy with the bread, meaning she truly was in his debt again but for the first time she could care the less about favors and returning them, just that she needed him and he needed her and for the time being it was obvious that it was not possible to live without the other.


End file.
